The effects of neuromuscular training on vertical jump in young female basketball players

Aim: Vertical jump (VJ) is one of the most prevalent acts performed by basketball players. Jumping acts are part of various defensive (e.g., blocking, rebounding) and offensive (e.g.rebounding and shooting) maneuvers performed by basketball players in practices and games (Ziv et al.2009). Aim of this study is to measure the influence of neuromuscular training program on vertical jumps in female young basketball players. Methods: Fifty-five healthy regional (16±2 y-o; 62.9±8.4 kg; 174±7 cm; 20.8±3.1 kg/m2) were involved in a 9-wks protocol consisting of 3 session/week of 2 hour of basketball practices. All subjects were divided in two groups: 30 in the “NMTP group” and 25 in a “control group”. The 20 min NMTP consisted in core endurance, plyometrics and strength exercises whereas the control group did the normal training routine. Subjects were tested at baseline (BL) and week 9 (W9) by Counter Movement Jump (CMJ) and one legged CMJ (Optojump, Microgate, Bolzano, Italy). Differences over time were assessed with paired T-test and differences between groups with unpaired t-test. Results were expressed as mean ±SD. Significant differences were found p<0.05 Results: All participants completed the 9 weeks program with a mean adherence of 90%. No significant differences were found at BL in the two groups. At W9, experimental group showed significant improvements in CMJ (ES 0.8) one-legged CMJ right leg (ES 0.8) CMJ left leg (ES 0.6). Regarding the control group we didn’t find any significant differences at W9 compared to BL. There is significant difference between groups with unpaired t-test in CMJ and one-legged CMJ. . Conclusions: The study shows how a neuromuscular training program has produced a significant improvement in vertical jumps in female basketball players. This conclusion is very important for coaches because the NMTP, usually used for prevention injuries, have influence on performance. References 1. Hewett TE et al. (2006)Ford KR, Myer GD. Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female athletes: part 2, a meta-analysis of neuromuscular interventions aimed at injury prevention. Am J Sports Med.: 34:490–498